Barnwell: ‘We sent the letter to the folks who she’d been delivering food to … and we also contacted them by phone too’
By V. Hugh Lewis, publisher
JISD raised the possibility of a limited number of students/staff being possibly exposed to COVID-19 by an employee who participated in distribution of student meals. JISD sent a letter out, dated April 2, 2020, to those it felt could have been affected.
“I am attaching what I wrote/sent out last week (see below),” JISD Superintendent Rob Barnwell wrote in an email to the Herald. “A female employee had a fever……although her doctor told her she had an infection of some sort and she could return to work, we took steps to make sure she wasn’t involved in any work-related things and asked her to quarantine herself for 2 weeks. I simply thought it was better to be safe than to be sorry. The doctor wasn’t interested in getting her tested. We sent the letter to the folks who she’d been delivering food to….and we also contacted them by phone too, and I believe we were able to get in touch with most of them.”
The letter, dated April 2, 2020, states the district “will not allow this employee to return to work unless we get results of a negative test for COVID-19 or until 14 days have passed while the employee self-quarantines. If we are informed this employee is tested for coronavirus in the future, I intend to relay that information to you and others, as appropriate. … It is believed the employee has not been in close contact with students or other members of the community.”
The letter goes on to read that the bus the employee used was taken out of use until it could be “intensely sanitized.”
When asked about the rumor of a second employee having been exposed but who did not self-quarantine, Barnwell wrote “I don’t know where all of our people have traveled to or from. I can’t be expected to know that. This all started during spring break. But We’ve communicated to all that if they’ve been sick or if they’ve been around anyone who was showing symptoms of illness to self quarantine. We’ve had a few who had to self quarantine but as far as I know, there has been no positive tests in Marion county. Not sure if anyone has even been tested. Some probably should have been tested.”
The letter was posted Wednesday, April 8, on Facebook by a school determined non-affected parent, which brought it to the attention of other parents, the Herald, and the County. The FB post has since been removed.
“Neither I, nor Emergency Management Coordinator Constable David Capps, was notified about the situation until 3 p.m. today (Wednesday) and I discussed the situation with Superintendent Barnwell immediately,” said Marion County Judge Leward LaFleur. “I have requested the district inform either my office or Constable Capps’ office about all future possible exposures and the district’s course of action and told him we are here to help and support any efforts of mitigation.”
The letter states “Out of an abundance of caution, we advise you to monitor your health and follow the CDC guidelines if you have had close contact with anyone who is sick or exhibits symptoms.
“The District continues to monitor this situation and will provide additional information as needed,” it continues. “We hope for a successful recovery of our Jefferson I.S.D. staff member and anyone else in our community who may be dealing with any health related issues.”